Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 5, February 2, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
SUBSCRIBER UPDATE
Among recent new subscribers are Michael Berke, courtesy
of David Phillips, and Stephen Goldsmith of R. M. Smythe,
courtesy of John and Nancy Wilson. Welcome aboard! We
now have 523 subscribers.
UPDATE FROM Q. DAVID BOWERS
Dave Bowers writes: "I am writing to state that I am
overwhelmed and amazed by the calls and e-mails I have
received regarding the sudden termination of my employment
by the new CEO (Michael Haynes) of Collectors Universe,
who arrived on the job on January 1. I have had offers of
money, assistance, help with moving, loans of books, and even
lodging" you name it! I never expected to have such an
outpouring from many of the largest 'names' in numismatics,
including quite a few competitors! Indeed, my e-mail file from
well-wishers could well form a nucleus for a book, "Who's
Who in American Numismatics." All of this is inspiring and
wonderful to me, and I am extremely grateful. Please pass
my appreciation along to the many NBS members who have
been a part.
As mentioned in my earlier note to you, my research and
writing should be okay in the future, except that my library
of thousands of items is packed in two hastily rented premises,
and it will be some time until I can sort everything out and
determine my legal options. All of this happened unexpectedly
and, as you might expect, has caused many sleepless nights.
Ditto for my other top staffers, Christine Karstedt and John
Babalis.
My spirit and my enthusiasm for numismatics and the people
in it are as bright as ever. I do not yet have a business identity
or telephone, but my contact information is:
Q. David Bowers
P.O. Box 539
Wolfeboro Falls, NH 03896-0539
e-mail: qdbarchive@metrocast.net
Best wishes, Wayne, and thanks again "and to all of your
readers!"
RED BOOK RIGHTS SOLD
Ken Bressett writes: "Thanks for another great issue of the
newsletter. They are always so enjoyable. Here is a bit of
news that your readers may not have yet. I wanted them to
be among the first to know:
All rights to A Guide Book of United States Coins, and all
other Whitman books and coin supply products, have just
been sold to H. E. Harris & Co. The new owner has been
in the hobby business (stamp and coin supplies) for the past
85 years and is well known to the industry. They intend to
not only keep the Whitman line intact, but to expand it, and
support the hobby in many innovative ways.
Although I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with
the former owner, St. Martin's Press, I am extremely pleased
and enthused about the new direction that H. E. Harris intends
to pursue. I will continue to edit the Guide Book and other
Whitman products and to be involved in many new projects
for H. E. Harris. I will continue to work at my home office,
with the same communication contacts."
LAMASURE PAINTING INFORMATION SOUGHT
Dave Lange writes: "The ANA is publishing a correspondence
course I wrote on the history and coinage of the U. S. Mint.
We would like to include (perhaps on the cover) Edwin
Lamasure, Jr.'s familiar painting that depicts the first mint
buildings. This painting was commissioned by Frank H.
Stewart in 1914 following his demolition of the remaining
structure. The problem is that we don't know where this
painting is currently located, who, if anyone, holds the
copyright and whether prints of it may be obtained for
reproductive use. I suspect that if anyone knows it will be
an NBS member.
Since time is a factor, please respond directly to me at
DLange@NGCcoin.com or to the ANA's graphic designer,
Mary Jo Meade, at forkroad@aol.com."
ANS LIBRARY FUND 'TAX"
In support of the American Numismatic Society library fund
drive, numismatic literature dealers George Kolbe and Charlie
Davis are encouraging winning bidders in their upcoming sales
to add a voluntary "lot tax", with proceeds going to the ANS.
George has enclosed a notice with the mailing of catalogs for
his sale #90 (closing February 20). Charlie will send out
notices with invoices for his sale of February 15th. At my
request, George forwarded the text of his notice for reprinting
here in The E-Sylum:
"Your help is needed. Those who utilize numismatic literature
strictly as researchers, those who are bibliophiles at heart,
and those of us who are a bit of both, owe an immense debt
of gratitude to the American Numismatic Society and its
magnificent Library. The best in the world, it is open to
serious numismatic researchers everywhere. If you have not
been there yourself, you have undoubtedly benefited from
the researches of those who have.
An endowment fund has been established, to be named the
Francis D. Campbell Library Chair. Those who have used
the Library know that this is a fitting tribute to an individual
who has personified the objectives of the Society for over
a generation. The ultimate goal is permanent funding of this
position. Then, the ANS will never be without a full-time
Librarian, however difficult Frank Campbell¹s carrels may
be to fill.
Over coming auction sales, George Frederick Kolbe and
other numismatic firms will request that successful bidders
donate a set amount for each lot purchased, to help fund
this endowment. In our case, we request that you add $1.00.
In our February 20, 2003 auction sale, we will be pleased
to match each dollar donated by bidders.
Those of you interested in making direct contributions to help
fund the Francis D. Campbell Library Chair are encouraged
to contact the American Numismatic Society."
It's a worthy cause, and I hope E-Sylum subscribers will
be well represented among the contributors to the fund.
At John Adams' invitation, I've joined the committee and
hope to contribute to both the publicity and fund-raising
efforts.
ALASKA & YUKON STOCKS AND BONDS PUBLISHED
Dick Hanscom forwarded the press release for his new book.
Congratulations!
"Alaska Rare Coins is pleased to announce the publication of
its book "Alaska & Yukon Stocks and Bonds." The book is
344 pages, printed on 8½ by 11 inch paper, soft bound with
full color glossy covers. It contains over 700 listings and over
500 photos.
Compiled by Dick Hanscom, it is the culmination of over 15
years of data collection. The data include place of
incorporation and dates, color of the front and back of the
stock, capital stock issued, description of vignette, size,
printer and any other information that may be available.
Prospectuses and historical photos are used to complement
the listings.
The stocks and bonds are fully indexed by company name
and other key words in the company name. Appendixes
are provided that will aid in the identification of stocks that
are not listed.
The book is priced at $35 postpaid via bookrate postage.
For delivery by priority mail, add $6 per book. Wholesale
prices are available upon request.
Orders may be sent to Alaska Rare Coins, 551-B Second
Ave., Fairbanks, Alaska 99701."
QUIZ QUESTION: ANA BOURSE START
In what year did the dealer bourse area become part of the
annual conventions of the American Numismatic Association?
Do I know the answer? Well, no, but I was hoping someone
might. I believe I read this bit of trivia somewhere, but have
forgotten.
The subject came up Thursday evening at a meeting of the
Pittsburgh Numismatic Society, together with other volunteers
for the 2004 Pittsburgh ANA convention committee. ANA
Convention Manager Brenda Bishop was in town scouting
the convention center, hotels and restaurants. It was a
pleasure to have her join us and take the next steps in planning
for the convention.
TIOLIER COLLECTION CATALOG SOUGHT
Richard Margolis writes: "Can the catalogue of a highly
important numismatic collection, the publication date and other
details of which are known from other sources, disappear
off the face of the earth? This seems to be the case with a
catalogue of the great Tiolier collection. Pierre Joseph Tiolier
was Engraver-General of France from 1803 to 1816, his son,
Nicolas Pierre succeeding him in this position until 1845.
Occupying this privileged position at the Paris Mint for so
many years they were in a unique position to put together a
marvelous collection of essays and special strikings by
themselves and by preceding French engravers.
Based on information appearing primarily in Conbrouse's
Maison de France (1845), and a few fleeting references
elsewhere, this is exactly what they did. In 1840, according
to Conbrouse, a small catalogue of the Tioliers' collection
was printed by H. Fournier (a well-known Paris publisher),
"petit in 8o de vingt-quatre pages". It is known from other
references by Conbrouse to the catalogue that it contained
at least 320 numbers. I think it highly unlikely, however, that
the catalogue would have borne the Tioliers' name as owners
of the collection, which was sold in 1841 to Rousseau, one
of the two leading Paris dealers of the period.
Unfortunately, despite having fairly exhaustively researched
the French numismatic literature of the 19th century (primarily
in the library of the Paris Mint, and even more extensively in
the library of the Cabinet des Medailles of the Bibliotheque
Nationale), I have been unable to locate a single copy of this
catalogue, nor any reference to it anywhere, other than
Conbrouse's mention of it.
Apart from the small number of coins and essays that I know
from other evidence were included in the catalogue, it must
have listed a great many of the great rarities of the period that
interests me (the French Revolution and Napoleon). It
therefore goes without saying that I would give my right arm
or any other appropriate part of my anatomy for even a
glimpse of it. Any thoughts as to how or where to search
further for this numismatic will-o'-the-wisp would be most
welcome."
COBB WASHINGTON INAUGURAL BUTTONS
Eric Von Klinger has an article in the February 10th issue
of Coin World describing the floor action at last month's
Stack's auction of the J. Harold Cobb collection of
Washington Inaugural Buttons. Great headline: "Button
Collectors Undone by Coin Collectors in Auction."
Cataloguer Michael Hodder's preface to the collection
included a great overview of the literature describing
these rare buttons, and this was also highlighted in the
article.
2003 ROMAN COIN PRICE YEARBOOK
Morten Eske Mortensen writes: "Following a number of
enquiries from professional market players the owners of the
publishing rights have agreed by special orders to produce
an utmost and extremely strictly distributed minor number
of the RCP Yearbooks 2003 edition.
Printing run will be limited to 150 copies only (one hundred
and fifty) to cover the complete world market. The three
volumes thus will go antiquarian from day 1.
The 2003-Yearbooks are to be acquired through pre-orders
only (time limit for order placements: 5 weeks).
The order of reservations will be according to the dates of
receiving the advance orders. (aka: first come - first serve).
The order form is to be found at this direct link:
http://home.worldonline.dk/mem/info/roman2003US.htm"
THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIST
Ken Lane from Arkansas writes: "Who wrote the 1888 4-page
pamphlet "The American Numismatist?"
1909 MONTREAL ANA CONVENTION INFO SOUGHT
Darryl Atchison writes: "I am extremely interested in contacting
anyone who owns any memorabilia from the 1909 A.N.A.
convention held in Montreal. I know of the existence of three
different official convention photographs, a convention program
and a convention badge. As this was the first numismatic
convention ever held in Canada, I hope to be able to include
some of this material in our new bibliography on Canadian
numismatics as illustrations but need to locate the material.
The text is essentially finished and will be released at the CNA
convention in Windsor this July. However, we are now
gathering illustrations for the book.
I would also be extremely interested in hearing from anyone
who owns a copy of a book by Neil Harris entitled 'Catalogue
of convention badges & medals of the American Numismatic
Association, 1908 - 1968. I would be very pleased to locate
a copy for immediate purchase, and anyone with a copy can
contact me by email at atchisondf@hotmail.com
Of course, if there are any questions concerning our text, we
also invite correspondence related to that as well. Thank you
very much."
[I'm not aware of a separately published book or pamphlet
by Harris, but the work on ANA badges & medals was
published serially in the ANA's "The Numismatist" from
January 1970 through December 1973, with supplements
in 1979 and 1989. -Editor]
SPACE FLIGHT MEDAL
From the Houston Chronicle, April 4, 1988: "The National
Aeronautics and Space Administration Friday presented
posthumous Space Flight Medals and certificates to
representatives of the families of the fatal Challenger mission."
"The medals and certificates were awarded to Steve McAuliffe,
Christa's husband; Marcia Jarvis, wife of the Hughes payload
specialist; Cheryl McNair and Lorna Onizuka, wives of NASA
mission specialists Ron McNair and Ellison Onizuka; Chuck
Resnik, brother of mission specialist Judith Resnik; Jane Smith,
wife of Challenger pilot Mike Smith; and June Scobee, wife of
commander Dick Scobee."
http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/archives/88/880402-1.html
[Has anyone ever seen a Space Flight Medal, or have any
more background information about it?" -Editor]
CONGRESSIONAL SPACE MEDAL OF HONOR
A web search turned up another medal I was unfamiliar
with, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. See:
http://www2.powercom.net/%7Erokats/medals.htmlhttp://www2.powercom.net/~rokats/histdeco.html#SPMDL
"Established by Congress on 29 SEP 1969. Awarded by
the President in the name of Congress to civilian or military
astronauts who, while performing their duties, distinguish
themselves by exceptionally meritorious efforts and
contributions to the welfare of the Nation and humanity.
The design contains a 1/4 carat diamond at its center,
which makes it the only US decoration with a precious
stone.
It is a non-military decoration and ranks after all military
decorations. Awardees include:
John Glenn, 1978.
Neil Armstrong, 1978.
Alan Shepard, 1978.
Frank Borman, 1978.
Pete Conrad, 1978.
Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, 1978 (posthumously).
John Young, 1981.
Tom Stafford, 1992.
Jim Lovell, 1995.
Shannon Lucid, 1996.
Roger B. Chaffee, 1997 (posthumously).
Edward H. White, 1997 (posthumously)."
FEATURED WEB SITE
This week's featured web site is the history of the Rochester
Numismatic Association (RNA): "America's Oldest
Continuously-Operating Coin Club," ANA Club Member #2,
established 1912.
http://www.the-rna.com/history.html
Wayne Homren
Numismatic Bibliomania Society

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